A/N: Brenda and Fritz are engaged and Fritz wants to see a wedding ceremony in their future. Brenda, however, would rather deal with a corpse than plan a wedding. This story takes place in Season 4, just before "Split Ends".
Chapter 1:
"Brenda, we have an emergency situation." Will Pope had burst into her office without knocking.
She looked up from her computer screen and waited for him to continue. She didn't have to wait long.
"Gary Logan has just been murdered."
"Gary Logan, the guy who is runnin' for Congress?"
"Yes. He was at a restaurant called Tillner's pressing the flesh when he was shot. I need you to work this one quickly, but by the book. We don't want media hassles. So get your men there immediately. Do you know where that is? You can get the address from Rollout and…"
"I know where it is, Will. We're on our way," she replied as she stood up and grabbed her purse. Walking into the Murder Room she called out, "All right, everybody, we've got a murder." She instantly had everyone's attention. "Gary Logan was just shot at Tillner's restaurant in Los Feliz. There's gonna be a lot of media attention on this case because he was runnin' for Congress so Chief Pope wants us to solve this quickly. But the press is gonna second guess everythin' we do so double check what you're doin', all right? Lights and sirens, everyone, lights and sirens."
Her pronouncement pumped renewed life into the squad. "Let's go, everyone," Provenza said.
"Someone grab Buzz. Thank you," and she headed out the door with her squad following her.
"Do you want me to drive?" Gabriel asked.
"Do you know where it is?"
"No, but I assume you have the address."
"No, I don't, but I've been there before so I'll drive."
"Do you want to deal with more dead bodies today?"
"Very funny, Sergeant. I'll have you know that I'm an excellent driver. But if you'd feel better, you can drive and I'll give you the directions."
"Thank you. I would feel much better," and they got into Sgt. Gabriel's car.
"Gary Logan… Isn't he that racist who's running for Congress?" he asked.
"Yeah. Well, I guess someone just voted against him. And we need to find out who."
Tillner's was located right in the middle of a clutch of haute couture boutiques. To say that it looked out of place was not only an understatement, it was also a testament to the tenacity of the Tillner family. The patriarch, Jonas Tillner, began the restaurant when he returned from WWII. With the renewed emphasis on the entertainment industry, that section of Los Feliz boomed and the sleepy little village put on airs. When he refused to sell, developers tried to force Jonas out of business so they could level his restaurant and erect architecture more in keeping with the area's new-found affluence. But he fought back successfully and taught his sons to resist the urge to cater only to the nouveau riche around them. He felt a moral obligation to provide the best tasting food at reasonable prices to the common man who occupied a shrinking chapter in the Los Feliz success story. It was no accident that Gary Logan chose Tillner's to press the flesh for a photo op. Most politicians beat a path to Tillner's door for the same purpose.
When they arrived, Taylor was already there speaking to the press. He saw them and signaled to Brenda so she waited for him to finish his sentence and excuse himself.
"Commander, I'm guessin' that we don't have the shooter?"
"No, ma'am, we don't. Logan was shot once in the back at close range. The restaurant was packed with eye witnesses, though. Robbery Homicide secured the scene and was about to start taking statements when Chief Pope ordered us to just detain everyone and wait for Priority Homicide."
She nodded and entered the small, family-type restaurant. Buzz was already there filming the scene and Lt. Tao immediately began examining the physical evidence while Provenza prompted Sanchez to begin calculating where the shooter was standing. The rest of the squad fanned out and began taking witness statements. As she surveyed the scene Brenda saw a woman she recognized and she was not surprised to see her.
Ten months previously…
"Where are we goin'?" Brenda asked as Fritz drove down the unfamiliar street.
"Dave told me about a restaurant called Tillner's. I'd like to try it," he explained as he turned the corner.
"But I'm hungry for shrimp. Does this place have good shrimp?"
"Dave says that everything on the menu is good, but they're really known for their homemade pies."
"In that case I like the place already," she grinned as Fritz pulled into the parking lot.
While waiting for the waitress Brenda looked around at the tables and cheap, naugahyde-covered seats. She squinted to see the photos of the Tillner family, the early days of the restaurant, and the Los Feliz street scenes from the 1940s and 50s. After their orders had been taken and conversation had resumed, Fritz changed the subject. "There's a woman over at that table in the corner by the window who is staring at us."
Brenda turned her head and glanced at the woman. "You're right. She's definitely checkin' us out, but I don't recognize her. Have you ever seen her before?"
"No, I've never seen her. I'd remember her."
"Well, if she's gonna stare at us, I don't mind starin' back," she said and turned her head again to look at the woman who was alone and still looking at them. She's one of the most unattractive women I've ever seen. But Brenda didn't feel contempt for the strange woman. Her experiences with the worst human nature had to offer convinced her that others would do that. No, Brenda felt compassion for her and wondered what events in her life led her to disregard her appearance. Brenda's experiences led her to conclude, She probably doesn't think she matters to anyone.
The strange woman was Caucasian, in her late 60s or early 70s, and she probably weighed close to three hundred pounds, a decided rarity in that part of LA. But that wasn't the woman's most distinctive feature. She possessed a diminishing amount of thin, wispy hair, grey in color, and so short that it insisted on standing straight up. Brenda thought that the combination of that hair, the woman's narrow nose, and her large glasses gave her face the appearance of a baby owl. She noticed that her clothing was inexpensive - clean, but not stylish. I doubt they make stylish clothin' in her size, Brenda mused. And still the woman maintained her steady soulful gaze, seemingly with no embarrassment at having been caught.
"She's still starin'. Are you sure you don't recognize her?"
"No, I'm sure."
"Well, let's ignore her and just eat our dinner," Brenda said as she saw their waitress coming toward them with their orders.
Dave had been right. Their shrimp was delicious and their desserts were to die for, so Tillner's became a frequent dining spot for them. And the strange woman apparently was also enamored of the place as she was usually there and always staring at them. But the food was worth repeat visits, and since the woman never approached them, they decided that she was just a local oddity whom they could ignore.
"Lieutenant Provenza, has anyone taken that woman's statement, the one sittin' next to the window in the corner over there?"
"Are you sure that's a woman?" Provenza joked. When Brenda's expression let him know that she expected a more professional response, he sighed and said, "No, not yet. Do you want me to interview her next?"
"Yes… No. On second thought, please ask Detective Daniels to talk to her, and I'd like you to grab the tape from that security camera." And she pointed to the lone camera mounted near the ceiling.
Brenda and Sgt. Gabriel walked up the brick walkway to the impressive columned front porch of the Logan home. The housekeeper let them in and they were ushered into the living room to wait for Mrs. Logan. Soon a tall, elegant woman with salt and pepper hair wearing a tailored grey and white pant suit entered the room, smiled and said, "I'm Marguerite Logan. What can I do for the LAPD today? If you're here to discuss security for my husband's town hall meetings you'll have to talk to his campaign manager."
Brenda thought High society cool, but she just smiled at her and asked, "Mrs. Logan, when did you last talk to your husband?"
"This morning at breakfast. Why?"
"Did he seem concerned or upset about anythin'?"
"No, he seemed fine. Why? What's happened?"
"How are you and your husband gettin' on?"
"Fine. We have a good marriage. What is this about?"
"Do you know if he was havin' any problems with anyone?"
"No, he wasn't."
"What about with his business. Any trouble there?"
"TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED!"
Brenda let out a slow breath, "Ma'am I'm sorry to have to tell you that there was a shootin' this afternoon and your husband was killed."
Mrs. Logan froze for a minute and then began shaking her head, "No, no, no! That's not possible."
"I'm sorry but he was shot at a campaign function." Mrs. Logan sank into a chair sobbing. When she regained control Brenda asked again, "Was he havin' any problems with anyone that you know of?"
"No, I can't think of anyone. Oh, he and Greg argued, but he's in Detroit. And he wouldn't hurt his father, anyway. He adores his father."
"Is Greg your only child?"
"No, we have three children, two boys and a girl. Bill is in the Navy and is out to sea right now, and Debbie lives in New York."
"Did either of them have any problems with their father?"
"No. No, they don't. Gary always spoils… spoiled them."
"Could we have their contact information?" David asked as he withdrew his notebook from his jacket pocket.
"Of course, but please let me call them first to tell them what's happened. I don't want them to hear about this from the police or from the news."
"Certainly," Brenda replied.
"Where is Gary? Is he at a funeral home?"
"No, ma'am. He's at the county morgue." This information caused Mrs. Logan to begin crying again and prompted Brenda to explain. "When there's a homicide we're required to perform an autopsy. You'll be contacted about your choice of a funeral home when they're finished."
Mrs. Logan nodded and continued crying and both Brenda and David knew that they'd get nothing further from her so David asked, "Is there anyone we can call to be with you?"
"No, thank you," Mrs. Logan gulped. "I want to be alone right now and I need to call my family."
"We're so sorry for your loss," David said as they left and when they were out of earshot he said, "I hate notifications. They're the worst part of the job."
"They're bad, all right," Brenda agreed.
News of the Logan murder was all over every channel that night. As Brenda and Fritz watched, he asked, "Is this your case?"
"Yes, of course, but I'm afraid I'm gonna be runnin' down a lot of rabbit holes. We have a lot of eye witnesses who didn't see anythin' and Sanchez is still reelin' from his brother's death so it's gonna be hard. Oh, guess who one of the witnesses is."
"The staring lady?"
"Yeah. Detective Daniels interviewed her. I haven't seen her statement yet but Irene said she didn't see the shootin'. She certainly spends enough of her time starin' at people. I can't believe that she didn't get a good look at the shooter."
"While you're at it, maybe you can find out why she's so fascinated with us."
"I have the feelin' that the Interview Room with all my squad watchin' is not the place for that conversation."
"Well, she does seem to think she knows something about us. Or you," he grinned.
"Or you," she laughed as she poked him in the ribs.
After that exchange they resumed watching the news. Fritz took Brenda's hand and absentmindedly began rubbing his thumb over her engagement ring.
Brenda smiled up at him. "If you rub it any more I guess I'm gonna find out if this ring really came from Tiffany's or from a box of Cracker Jacks."
"What?" Fritz's attention snapped back to her, and when his mind caught up to the fact that she'd said something about her ring, he continued, "Tell me, have you given any more thought to a wedding date?"
"I haven't had much time to think about it. Will is pushin' me to solve this case. And I don't need you pushin' me too."
"If I don't push you we'll never get married."
"Well, that's just not true. I'll pick a date. Just not now, so quit buggin' me," an irritated Brenda replied. And she got up and went into the bathroom. It was the best way she could think of to bring finality to that conversation.
The next morning Brenda was in her office reviewing the witness statements. They all said that there were many people milling around the restaurant when Gary Logan was shot and no one saw anyone acting strangely. They didn't see anyone either arguing or holding a weapon of any kind.
One thing that Brenda noticed was that everyone denied hearing a shot. If they didn't hear gunfire then the shooter must have used a silencer, and they're large and difficult to conceal. She walked into the Murder Room and asked, "Lieutenant Tao, do we have the ballistics report yet?"
"I just got it. The gun was a Walther PPK 32 mil."
"Hmm. Unusual choice of weapons. History?"
"I entered the casing into NIBIN but no hits."
"Do we have any information about the bullet trajectory yet?"
"I was just about to head over to the morgue, Chief."
"Okay, keep workin' on it. Sergeant Gabriel, would you come with me, please?" As they walked down the hall, she said, "We're gonna pay a visit to the 'Logan for Congress' campaign headquarters to see what they have to say."
When they reached the elevators, they were intercepted by Will. "Chief Johnson, may I have a word with you?" Will and Brenda left Gabriel by the elevators and walked around the corner.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"To Mr. Logan's campaign headquarters. Why?"
"I just don't want you slow-walking this case."
"Will, when have I ever slow-walked a case?"
"You went home last night. You didn't put in any extra time reviewing the evidence," he accused.
"I didn't have much evidence to review until this mornin'," Brenda snapped. "Besides, didn't you tell me last week that we have to stop workin' overtime?"
"I just don't want the press to get the idea we're dragging our feet on this case because of Logan's unpopular political views."
"Don't worry. We're not draggin' our feet. But you said to make sure that we do this right."
"Okay. Just please solve this case as quickly as you can."
"So that means you'll approve all necessary overtime for my whole squad." It wasn't a question.
"All right," Will sighed, "I'll clear it with Chief Thompson. Just please solve the case." And he spun on his heels and walked down the hall.
When they drove down the street of small stores, the red, white and blue bunting over one door immediately identified the storefront headquarters of Gary Logan's Congressional campaign. Huge posters of the candidate smiled at them as they parked their car and walked to the front door.
David stepped forward intending to open the door but it was locked so he knocked. A short, balding, middle aged man with red-rimmed eyes came out from a back room and spoke through the glass. "I'm sorry, but we're closed."
Brenda slapped her badge to the glass. "I'm Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, LAPD, and this is Sergeant Gabriel. We need to ask you some questions." The man nodded and unlocked the door. When they were inside Brenda extended LAPD sympathies, "I'm so sorry for your loss but if we're gonna catch whoever killed Mr. Logan it's important that we move quickly." The man nodded once more and Brenda continued, "Let's start with your name."
"Patrick Melton."
"And what is your official position with the campaign?" David asked as he scribbled some notes.
"I was Gary's Campaign Manager."
"Do you know if anyone had ever threatened Mr. Logan?" Brenda asked.
Mr. Melton nodded, "He received several threats. His ideas were misunderstood by lots of people."
"Would you have a record of those threats?"
"Yes, we kept records of all of them and we turned them over to the LAPD and the FBI but since they were anonymous, I guess nothing ever came of them," Mr. Melton said sadly.
"Could we have that list?" Brenda asked.
"I can print off a copy for you, but I doubt you'll find anything useful. Cowards don't ever leave their names."
"No, they don't. But we'd like it, anyway. And if you have any hate mail, anythin' in someone's handwritin', I'd like that as well."
"Most of the threats were over the phone. The few hate notes we got were turned over to the FBI." Then Mr. Melton turned to Sgt. Gabriel. "Look, I want you to know that Mr. Logan's position regarding minorities was distorted by the press."
"Sir, he gave his views very clearly whenever the cameras were pointed at him," David bristled.
Brenda shot Gabriel a look intended to silence him, then turned back to Mr. Melton. "Do you know if anyone associated with his campaign became disillusioned with him, or had any kind of disagreement with him?"
"Most of us had disagreements from time to time. But everyone on the campaign all worked our hardest to see him get elected."
"What about someone who worked for another campaign?"
"No, I don't think any of the other candidates considered Mr. Logan a serious threat. We weren't even sure if we'd get enough signatures to get on the ballot."
"And did anyone workin' here ever notice anyone suspicious lurkin' around?"
"Not that I ever heard about, and I was here every day. We had rocks thrown through our windows twice, but that happened during the night and we don't know who did that."
"Did anyone report those incidents to the LAPD?"
"Of course, but you people didn't do anything about them. Maybe if you had, Gary would still be alive." Mr. Melton looked like he would cry.
"All right, then. If you could give me a printout of the complaints and a listin' of everyone who worked for the campaign, both paid staff and volunteers, I'd appreciate it."
Back in the car, Brenda said, "When we get back to the office check out those two rock throwin' complaints and see if any traffic or private surveillance cameras picked them up."
When she entered the Murder Room she saw Provenza working a crossword puzzle. "Lieutenant, Chief Pope very pointedly reminded me that we don't have time to waste so put your puzzle away. Here's a list of everyone who worked for the Logan campaign. I'd like you and Lieutenant Flynn to check them out."
"Yes, ma'am," Provenza said and took the list and gave half of it to Flynn.
"Detective Daniels, what can you tell me about your interview with the woman sittin' by the back window at Tillner's yesterday?"
"Her name is Joan Hillis but there's nothing in her statement. She struck me as very odd, though."
"Well, her size gave me that impression," Provenza observed.
"That, and the fact that she is almost bald," Flynn added. "The funny thing is she didn't look homeless or destitute to me. So why wouldn't she wear a wig?"
"No, definitely not destitute," Daniels agreed, "But also definitely not rich. She was wearing an expensive ring but her other jewelry was costume – Walmart quality."
"A diamond ring?"
"No, an emerald on her other hand, possibly a birthstone. But it wasn't small and it looked like the real deal. And one other thing, Chief. She seemed very intelligent. She anticipated my questions and she was very well-spoken."
"Did she say anythin' to you that's not in her statement?"
"She asked who you were. That was about it."
"Thank you, Detective."
David then reported, "I spoke to Captain DiLeoni and Hollywood Division has reports of the vandalism cases including security camera footage. He says there was no help there but he's sending everything over."
"Thank you, Sergeant. While you're waitin' please check out Logan's business relationships," Brenda ordered as she walked into her office to read through the statements again.
When she got to Joan Hillis' statement she scoured it closely to see if there was anything which indicated something the other witnesses had missed, but there was nothing. She stated that there were a lot of people milling around and that from where she was seated she couldn't see Mr. Logan because of the number of people who were jockeying for position close to him. She also did not hear the shot. She just saw people reacting when Mr. Logan fell.
But something struck Brenda as odd. Gary Logan was a minor candidate who was running as an independent, not represented by a major political party. Even his campaign chairman had said that he was largely ignored by the other candidates.
Almost all the witness statements identified the people pressing in toward the candidate as members of the press. But Joan Hillis did not. Brenda knew from her own experience that members of the press wear official press badges on lanyards which readily identify them and give them access. Did Joan Hillis miss that? And if she missed such an obvious detail, why would Logan's Meet & Greet be gettin' so much press coverage? She got up from her desk and walked back out into the Murder Room. "Detective Daniels, would you come with me, please?"
As they got into the elevator Irene asked, "Where are we going?"
"How do you feel about gettin' some lunch with Joan Hillis?"
To Be Continued…
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